UK accused of abandoning 38 people adrift in Channel

French coastguards claim British rescue services said they would help people in dinghy but failed to do so

British Channel rescue services have been accused of abandoning 38 people in distress in a dinghy in UK waters, putting their lives in grave danger..

French coastguards from the union Solidaires Douanes claim UK services told them they would begin a rescue effort but then failed to do so, allowing them to drift back into the French part of the Channel.